The Giant Foam Finger: What We Talk About When We Talk About Brett Favre

In the first two episodes of The Giant Foam Finger — a new, sports-themed offshoot of Pop Culture Happy Hour — NPR Code Switch blogger Gene Demby and I have discussed one play in a decade-old NFL game, and we've tackled the phenomenon of fan hatred. This week, we take on a topic that, depending on your perspective, might well encompass both: Brett Favre, the erstwhile NFL quarterback who serves as a sturdy metaphor for, well, a lot of things.

Favre, who was recently inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall Of Fame — and who's a mortal lock to reach the NFL Hall Of Fame around this time next year — spent the last few years of his 20-year career retiring, unretiring, switching teams, retiring again, unretiring again, and eventually playing for the Minnesota Vikings, one of the Packers' most hated rivals. Consequently, he's come to represent everything from stubbornness to indecision to disloyalty to the obsolescence that awaits us all. His departure from the Packers, like the recent thaw in his relationship with the team, mirrored countless relationship struggles for countless fans. The word "divorce" gets brought up a lot around Brett Favre, and he's never been divorced.

Here, Gene and I approach all of these subjects and more while also nodding to Favre's actual athletic legacy — no small subject in and of itself. Look for another episode of The Giant Foam Finger (about a sport other than football, we promise!) in a couple weeks.